A pair of diehard Avenged Sevenfold fans, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, were recently reunited after spending two years in Gaza after being kidnapped by Hamas in the fall of 2023. The childhood friends also spent a considerable amount of time in captivity together during their ordeal.
Both were in attendance at the Nova Music Festival when it was infamously raided by Hamas on October 07th, 2023, with countless people being killed and hundreds of Israelis and more being taken hostage. That incident triggered the bloody Israel Gaza war that had raged on since until this month.
The aforementioned duo were granted their release this week and returned to Israel. Their freedom came about as part of the hostage/prisoner exchange being conducted via the tentative peace deal championed by U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at ending the Israel Gaza war.
Upon their release, the pair of friends were shown to have enjoyed some music from Avenged Sevenfold together in the hospital. After the band were made aware of their plight by the Israel Avenged Sevenfold fan community, the pair also received a personal video message from Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M. Shadows.
That clip can be seen below, along with Guy‘s shocked reaction. At one point in the clip he mentioned that he and Evyatar had listened to Avenged Sevenfold the night prior and that hearing the band’s music was, “so much better than imagining it for two years.”
We’re so deeply grateful for you, @shadows_eth. Your incredible support over these past two years has meant the world to us. pic.twitter.com/coHz3c4hIc
— A7X Israel ???? (@A7Xisrael) October 15, 2025
